The New wolf
by Talielorna
Summary: Amy and Brooke Tallon have been living with their cruel aunt since their father died. When Amy suddenly phases, what will they do? Set 2 years after Breaking dawn, this story is about one of the new, young wolves. Rated T for mentions of child abuse.
1. Summary

Amy and Brooke Tallon have been living with their aunt since their father died. WHen Amy suddenly phases, what will they do? Story set 2 years after Breaking Dawn, about one of the new wolves.


	2. Chapter 1

"Amy, come here please," my aunt Tessie ordered, tapping her foot impatiently on the vinyl floor. I huffed a sign of frustration, knowing she probably had a days worth of chores for me to do, forcing me to stay up until probably midnight to finish my homework. If I didn't pass out before then.

"Coming aunt Tessie," I told her, my tone sounding like a groan. I dragged my feet into the kitchen, where aunt Tessie was waiting with her hands on her hips. She looked me up and down and huffed loudly.

"What did I tell you about getting your clothes dirty?" she snapped, gesturing at the mud stain on the bottom of my pant leg. I smelled alcohol on her breath, and knew she'd been out drinking that day. Not that there was really a time when aunt Tessie wasn't drunk, but it was always worse when she was.

"Caleb Brown tripped me on my way home," I muttered, staring at the ground. Caleb was sort of the resident bully in my school, and he just loved picking on kids who were too wimpy to stick up for themselves. Sadly, I classified myself into that category.

"I don't care, you're cleaning them up. And while you're at it, do the rest of the wash. Maybe that will teach you to take better care of your clothes next time. Teach you not to be a pig and stick for yourself," aunt Tessie sneered and turned away from me. "I'm going out with my friends so I won't be in till late. I want the house spotless when I get back. And you can cook supper," She added as an afterthought.

This had been the daily routine for almost 2 months now, me being aunt Tessie's slave, and Brooke, my 8 year old sister too, when she could get away with it. Ever since my father passed away (my mother died giving birth to my sister,) Brooke and I had come to live with aunt Tessie, apparently the only family we had left. Though aunt Tessie was extremely bitter about having us around, she seemed satisfied with making us (mostly me,) pay for it with slave labour. Aunt Tessie had a bad habit of drowning her sorrows in drinking and taking her anger out on us. I knew aunt Tessie wished she could send us away to live with some foster or adoptive family, maybe even an orphanage for all she cared, but she thought it would be bad for her reputation if people thought she just threw us out into the streets. Honestly, I think I'd rather live in an orphanage, but of course Brooke and I had no say in it.

It was then that Brooke entered the door, arriving home from school. She walked down the hall towards me (we always seeked comfort in each other, a sort of united front from my aunt,) but aunt Tessie gripped her arm and yanked her back.

"Look what you did!" she screeched in her ear. Brooke cringed away, fear obvious on her face. She was probably remembering the last time Aunt Tessie was this drunk, she'd had nightmares about it for days. Aunt Tessie then roughly turned her so Brooke could see the mud she'd tracked into the house.

"How many times have I told you not to walk through the house with your shoes on? what's wrong with you, what can't you understand? It's like I'm talking to a brick wall!" tears sprang into Brooke's eyes, and I ran to defend her.

"It was an accident aunt Tessie! I'll clean it up, and I promise it won't happen again!" even though I already had too many things to do, I had to help Brooke any way I could.

"No!" she glared at me, then turned back to Brooke, "you're cleaning this up young lady, this time with your toothbrush! Have I made myself clear?" Brooke nodded weakly, a soft whimper escaping her mouth. Aunt Tessie released her and I immediately wrapped my arms around her.

"Goodnight," said Aunt Tessie sarcastically. She turned to me, in her anger slurring her words slightly "This house better be spotless when I get home!" she growled. She stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind her. The room was silent for a few moments.

Brooke then dissolved into tears.

"Shhh, it's okay, it's not your fault," I comforted, stroking her hair as she sobbed into my chest. In truth, I was boiling with anger inside, anger towards the woman who had the nerve to do this to my baby sister.

"I'm so sorry!" Brook wailed, " I didn't mean it! It was an accident!"

"Brooke, you did nothing wrong. It's aunt Tessie that has the problem, not us," I tried to reassure her, but I was gritting my teeth in anger. Brooke looked up with understanding in her eyes. She was aware of how unwelcome we were in our aunt's house, though she was not sure why. I did my best to explain to her that it wasn't her fault aunt Tessie didn't like us, but I'm not sure she believed me.

"I want to go home!" She told me, her voice breaking on the word home. I was frozen, my head suddenly swimming with unwanted memories. Memories of my father, my sister and I walking through the forest together, riding bikes, enjoying each others company. That was home. But we had no home anymore.

Brooke saw that now my eyes were tearing up and though she didn't understand the reason behind them, she hugged me tighter in an effort to comfort me.

This was how Brooke and I survived. Not because we had an aunt who took care of us (barely), but because we took care of each other. And looking down at my sister, still crying and hiccuping because of my aunt, I didn't want to put up with this any longer.

"We're leaving," I told her suddenly, grabbing her hand and dragging her to our room.

She looked up, excited, "Really?!Yay! Where are we going?" I stopped, now caught in the question: 'Where were we going?' I wasn't sure. I suddenly remembered that beside my dad's house, we had a neighbor was extremely sweet, and loved to have us over. Maybe she would want to adopt us. If not, we might go to an orphanage. I was pretty sure that an orphanage was better than aunt Tessie's, at least they wouldn't make us feel like trash.

"Do you remember , our old neighbor? The one with the daughter named Jessica?" Brooke nodded her head, remembering the nice lady. "Maybe she would want us to live with her, she always told us how much she liked us." I knew it was a long shot, but I was fed up with aunt Tessie, and I had to do something.

As I explained this all to her, we packed. we didn't have many things, just a few items of clothes, our tooth and hair brushes, a few toys for Brooke and CDs for me, and all the money we had, which wasn't much. We stuffed it all in our school backpacks, and left the room, doing all this as quick as we could. Brooke looked sadly back at the few stuffed animals she had to leave behind, but seemed happy that she wouldn't have to live with aunt Tessie anymore.

Before leaving the house I grabbed a few food items from the fridge, enough to sustain us until we could get to Mrs. Stanley's. I also wrote a quick note for aunt Tessie so she knew where we'd gone.

_Aunt Tessie,_  
_Brooke and I are leaving. You've made it quite clear that you don't want us here, and we have decided not to bother you anymore. Don't come looking for us. We'll find our way on our own. Thank you for letting us live with you._

_Sincerely, Amy Tallon_

There. I tried to be as polite as possible, even though aunt Tessie didn't deserve it. I looked down at Brooke who was shifting anxiously from foot to foot.

"Things will be better now, you'll see," I reassured her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tight. She responded by gripping it even tighter. And with that, we left aunt Tessie's place for hopefully the last time.


	3. Chapter 2

We'd been wandering the woods for an hour when I finally had to admit to myself that we were lost.

At first it had all been going so well, we'd been wandering along the side of the highway, heading towards Mrs. Stanley's house, when we saw aunt Tessie's car heading up the road towards us. Panicking, we'd escaped into the forest, putting as much space between us and the car as possible.

After a few minutes, when the panic had worn off, I realized that that might not have been aunt Tessie's car after all, and that I had probably jumped the gun. Now we were unable to find our way back to the road, and we were stuck, wandering aimlessly around the forest.

I finally snapped.

"Argh!" I screamed, surprising Brooke who turned around and looked at me, eyes wide. "It's all his fault! Why did he have to leave us with her, that witch! We wouldn't even be in this situation if it weren't for him!" I'd been getting more and more angry, and I'd finally settled with putting all the blame on my father, who I thought was to blame for this. Deep down I knew he hadn't left us on purpose, but I was too frustrated to think rationally.

I could see that she understood who I was talking about, and that it had hurt her feelings. This only made me feel angrier, now at myself for hurting the person I cared most about, and that's when the shaking started.

It was uncontrollable, and it scared me. It felt like my entire body was on fire, like every bone in my body was breaking simultaneously, and it was excruciating. And at the peak of this (which took all of 3 seconds) I exploded, pieces of shredded clothing going everywhere. Then the shaking stopped, and I felt normal again. Almost. I felt as if the world was smaller than it was a few seconds ago, like I was looking at it from higher up. I could also see things in incredible detail, and I could hear everything, including the sound of my sisters heart beating rapidly.

I was still confused about what had just happened to me, and so I looked down at Brooke to ask her. It surprised me that she was looking at me with wide eyed horror, but what sent me into a panic was that instead of my question coming out of my mouth, there was just a whimpering sound. I leaped back, stunned.

I stumbled over a branch, at when I looked down at my feet I howled in fear. Where my feet should have been, there were a set of paws! Without consciously wanting to, I threw my head back and howled at the sky.

When I looked back down I realized that I had scared Brooke so much that she had run behind a tree. This tore at my heart; I was the one who was supposed to comfort her, not scare her. I would never hurt her!

Not wanting to scare her further, I turned around and sped off in the opposite direction. I didn't know where I was running, heck, I didn't even know what I was! I obviously wasn't human. The confusion only drove me further into the woods. That's when I noticed the voices.

_Holy shit!_ thought the first voice, a deep one with a slight husky tone to it. I stopped abruptly, looking around but seeing no one. Then I realized the voice was in my head. But it didn't sound like a conscious. When I concentrated on it, I could hear sense the surprise and curiosity from the voice, almost like it was a person.

_Paul, what is it?_ asked another voice, addressing the first. It sounded just as curious.

_Jared, a new wolf just joined the pack... and she's a girl! _ the first voice, Paul, was dumbstruck.

_A girl?_ Thought Jared, (By now I had figured out these voices were actually thoughts, as they were only in my head and were connected to emotions.) _but we haven't had another girl phase since Leah?_

I could see, as though I was looking through his eyes, the boy named Jared start running in a direction, smelling the forest floor to catch his friend Paul's scent. _Find her. Calm her down until I get there. The others probably heard her too, and will be joining us soon._

My head was swimming. There were others? Paul seemed to hear my thoughts and answered me.

_Yes, there are others, _he told me_, but we're here to help. We'll explain it all to you when you've calmed down. _

I was then aware that I was breathing very fast, my now loud heart thumping erratically. I made an effort ( though it was in vain) to calm down, or at least not throw up, as I heard the sound of paws thumping rhythmically on the ground, running towards me.

_Shoot,_ thought Paul when he appeared in the space between the trees in front of me.

I nearly had a heart attack.

This boy Paul's thoughts apparently belonged to a humongous wolf, dark grey that even though I was now quite a bit taller than I used to be, still towered over me. I whimpered when I saw Paul's sharp teeth and claws, hidden by his large paws. He had an incredibly toned body, every muscle defined. I briefly considered running away.

_No, don't do that! _Paul was suddenly anxious, taking a step towards me, _I won't hurt you. I want to help you. As you can see, I'm a wolf, or rather, a shape shifter, just like you._

_Like me? _I asked, and then I became hysterical. _I'm a wolf?!_ I had collapsed on the floor, and had hid my head under my paws, trying to hide from this discovery.

I could see that Paul was looking at me anxiously, unsure what to do about me. Then there were other sounds of paws hitting the wet forest floor, and I looked up through my paws to see who it was.

The first and largest wolf (even bigger than Paul!) was black, and it stared at me with dark, unreadable eyes. The wolf beside him, which was a light, tan colour, was slightly smaller than the black one and was also watching me, but with a sort of excitement in it's eyes which confused me. The third and last wolf was dark red, and it was quite a bit smaller than the others, though still taller than me. It looked more awkwardly proportioned, with it's paws too big for the rest of it.

_Who are you? _Thought the black wolf, in a deep authoritative voice. Too scared to consider not answering him, I responded quickly.

_A-Amy Tallon, sir. _I wasn't quite sure why I'd added the sir, but this man, or wolf, seemed to demand such a title. Fear then overwhelmed me again, and I hid my face in my paws.

_She's so scared..._ The smallest red wolf thought, feeling bad for me.

_Someone should call Leah, she'd probably be the most help in all of this._ Thought the Paul wolf, addressing the black one. He was obviously the leader.

The Black one nodded his big shaggy head. _You go Seth,_ he addressed the tan wolf. I couldn't hear Seth's thoughts, but he seemed to understand the black wolf and sauntered off into the black wood, disappearing from my view. I wondered briefly who this Leah was and how she would help the most in this situation, but I was side tracked when the Black wolf turned to me.

_Hello Amy, I am Sam._ He told me in his grave voice. I quivered at being addressed directly by the dominant wolf._ I assume you've already figured out that we are communicating by thoughts, am I right?_ I gave a shaky head bob, signalling that I had come to that conclusion.

_You're going to have to calm down to turn back into a human, _he told me in a gentle voice, though it was still intimidating coming from this Sam. My breathing was shaky, and I was afraid. It felt impossible to calm down. A tear rolled down my cheek.

_Come on Amy, you can do it! _The smallest wolf of the group told me. I could sense that he felt almost brotherly towards me when he saw me crying, wanting to make it stop. Almost like the way I felt for Brooke.

When my thoughts strayed to Brooke panic struck my heart. My thoughts screamed Brooke and my wolf self threw my head back and howled at the sky again, howling for Brooke.

_Calm down, _said Sam in an authoritative voice. I tried to get a handle on myself: I had to find Brooke and make sure she was okay.

_Who's Brooke? _wondered Paul, trying to find a way to calm me down. I took a deep breath and explained.

_Brooke is my little sister. I left her alone in the woods, when I ran away._ I told them, the guilt of leaving her nearly crushing me.

_The others have found the young girl. They will take her back to my place. If you calm down enough to phase, you will be able to go see her. _I knew from his thoughts that Sam was trying to find a way to persuade me to calm down, and it was working. I trusted them with their instructions an prepared to calm down when a new voice and thoughts entered my head.

"Where is she?" said the voice, clearly female, with an undertone of anxiousness in it.

Sam barked in reply to her, calling her to where we were. A girl stepped into our little circle, wearing shorts and a tank top, her eyes searching the area with a worried look on her face. So this was Leah. Another human, a boy, followed her, and from his eyes I could tell that this was Seth, the wolf from a few minutes ago.

Leah let out a gush of air as she saw me. "So it's true", she said, looking at me with a mixture of feelings. Sadness, hope, confusion. And also... Love? This I couldn't understand. We had only just met, how did she love me? They all seemed to care for me, and I was oblivious to the reason.

"How old is she?" she almost whispered, questioning the Sam wolf.

Sam just turned to me, _What is your age? _he asked. I looked from Leah's concerned look to Sam's blank one and told them,_ I just turned 10._

A wave of sadness and pity washed over the wolves beside me. The thought too young rushed through all there minds. Then Sam snapped back to his train of thought. Sam repeated the information to leah and Seth, I could see through his thoughts that he was telling them with his. I still couldn't hear their thoughts, though. Why was it that they were the only two I couldn't hear in my head? Even when he was a wolf, Seth's mind had remained blank to me.

However Paul had heard my thinking and whilst Sam was busy explaining to Seth and Leah, he addressed his thoughts to me. _You can't hear their thoughts because they're in a different pack, only Sam can speak to them that way. It's because he's the alpha._

_Different pack? Alpha? _I wondered, very confused with his poor detail lacking explanation.

The red wolf cut in, adding, _Sam's the alpha for our pack, our group of wolves. But Leah and Seth are in Jacob's pack. _I nodded slightly, beginning to understand more. Before I could ask any questions, Sam was speaking to me again.

_Leah is going to help you phase, _he said, and I saw that the older girl was approaching me. "Come with me, Amy," she said, motioning me to follow her behind a tree a few feet away. I followed her hesitantly after a few encouraging looks from the other wolves. It was strange, being on four legs. I felt strangely like I was some sort of household pet, like a dog. But in my case I was probably a puppy, I looked so much younger than the other wolves.

Once we were out of the line of vision of the other wolves, Leah turn to face me, bending down to my level.

"To phase, you have to concentrate all your energy into your middle." She told me. I did as she asked. After a few moments, the searing feeling came back and for a few seconds I was on fire, every bone in my body breaking again as my shape changed.

I howled, and it turned into a scream of pain in the middle. I grabbed at my sides, collapsing on the ground and gasping in pain. I was glad to feel human skin at my touch.

That was when I realized I was nude.

I immediately covered myself up, tears welling up in my embarrassment. Then someone was putting something in my lap and I looked up to see Leah, handing me a large t-shirt.

"I know how you feel, I was the first girl to phase in a pack full of boys. Let's just say it wasn't fun," she said, grimacing. Not wanting to be without clothes for much longer, I took the shirt and put it on. I was suddenly then thankful that it was Leah who I had phased in front of, and not one of the older boys a little ways away.

"Thank you," I told her, looking down. The shirt was a man's, and it came down to my knees, which were wobbling. Leah then did something I didn't expect: she put her arm around my shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

It surprised me because I wasn't usually the one to be comforted, that was what I did for Brooke. I looked at the older girl, and she smiled kindly at me.

"That's better," she said,"let's go join the boys." we walked back to them, I was surprised to notice they were all phased too. Half- naked men stood before me, their toned chests bare. They all had similar russet skin, dark hair of various lengths and were all extremely tall. It made me feel like a two year old.

The younger of the boys ( who were still older looking teenagers) smiled at me, trying to make me feel okay. I couldn't help it, I hid sightly behind Leah's leg, something I hadn't done since I was little with my father.

"Ready to go?" The tallest one I assumed was Sam because he had the same voice as his thoughts, asked. He was always serious, and he still didn't smile, which made me nervous. I still bobbed my head a bit, anxious to get to Brooke, apologize and reassure her.

We followed the boys through the forest, and though I had no idea where we were, they seemed to know. Somewhere halfway, one of the boys struck up a conversation with me.

"My name's Seth," he told me, grinning toothily at me. Despite his size, this boy seemed so kind that I smiled back shyly. That only made his grin bigger.

"Hi Seth," I said, trying to be as polite as possible.

"So, Amy, where do you live?" he asked, still smiling. He was the happiest looking out of the wolves, and I felt sort of comfortable around him.

"I, uh, live on the reservation, further on the north border," I told him as accurately as possible. I used to live there, I thought, taking into account that I had run away. What Brooke and I were going to do now baffled me, but I decided to tackle that problem when I came to it. I had to find Brooke first.

"Do you have any other siblings? What are your parents names?" he asked again.

"My parents are dead," I told him gruffly, hoping this would end the conversation.

"Geez, Seth, lay off her a bit, won't you?" growled Leah, noticing my discomfort. Seth looked apologetically at me, obviously not meaning to upset me.

I fought against the tears, not wanting to embarrass myself further in front of the walked for another 20 some minutes, until I could see a faint opening in the trees ahead. Once we finally reached this opening, a small house came into view. It looked like it had two floors, and it was of a bright yellow colour. The door was painted with different coloured flowers, and the whole house looked to be made of wood. The feeling of comfort came to mind upon seeing this house, and I was having trouble placing it with Sam.

Sam led us into the tiny house, with Leah and I trailing at the end.


	4. Chapter 3

Inside, the house somehow looked smaller. Probably because of all the things that were inside it. Books, chairs, tables, bowls, a sewing kit, magazines were strewn around the house, piled up on tables and elsewhere. It had a cozy feel to it.

Once we were all inside, I noticed a woman standing by the counter.

"Emily," Sam said as he walked toward her, and I saw him smile for the first time. They embraced quickly, but the gesture was full of adoration. Then they separated and Sam dropped his arm to around her waist. This woman, Emily was beautiful, but there were three long scars that scared me on her face, stretching from her forehead to her fingers.

"We've had another one phase today," he whispered in her ear, though we all heard him. The older boys moved off to the sides a bit so that Emily could see me.

"OH!" she gasped, her surprised gaze shifting from Sam, to me, to Leah. Then her eyes melted into deep pity, and she stared at me as if she longed to hold me. These people, strangers were confusing me with their sudden closeness. I knew barely anything about them!

The room was silent for a few moments as a cloud of pity fell over it. After a few moments she spoke up.

"My name's Emily. I live here with Sam. What is your name?" She had a soft look upon her face, her voice kind and caring.

"Amy Tallon," I answered quickly, being as polite and calm as possible while I was a bundle of nerves inside.

"Amy, are you aware of the Quileute legends?" this question, from Sam, surprised me. What did it have to do with anything? I knew my father had been a Hoh, one of the neighbouring tribes of the Quileutes, but he had never told me any stories of either tribe.

I shook my head no and explained, "My father was in the Hoh tribe," I told them.

"Well then we must explain them to you. It will help you to understand why you transform into a wolf, and what this power will entail. We will have a bonfire tomorrow night, is that okay?" I had no idea where Brooke and I would stay until then, but not wanting to make Sam angry by refusing I nodded in agreement.

"Good, you can stay here with Emily until then. Is there any one you would like to alert your safe being? Who do you live with?" He asked, and I noticed all the boys looking around sort of excited after hearing the news of the fire.

"I lived with my aunt," I told him, subtly using the past tense, "but she won't care where I am." Sam looked about to question me on this statement, but was distracted when a group of three other boys came into the cottage. I wondered briefly how they all fit in here when I saw who was with them.

"Brooke!" I exclaimed when I saw her, hair with twigs and leaves in it and shirt spotted with dirt.

"Amy!" she shouted, a huge grin breaking across her face as I hugged her tightly. I noticed she started gasping a bit and loosened my grip, making a note to watch my strength around her.

But I was too worried to pay much attention to this detail. "Brooke!" I cried, my voice breaking on the word, "I'm so sorry for leaving you alone! I'm such a horrible sister! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" I had forgotten momentarily that we were surrounded by almost ten strangers, I was just so relieved to see Brooke.

To appear strong around her I sucked in my tears and smiled, just so happy to see her. She pulled away from me to look me in the eye.

"Amy, you're a wolf!" She exclaimed excitedly, and the room erupted into laughter. Brooke looked around, grinning for she'd made all these strangers laugh at how adorable she was.

"Quil explained it to me," she informed me, pointing to one of the taller and burlier boys who smiled down at her.

I was then aware of our audience, so I stood up and picked Brooke up to hold her on my hip. I was surprised I was able to do this, but I blamed it on the 'turning into a wolf' thing, which apparently came with a lot of strength.

I looked around and everyone was smiling at my sister and I, and I could tell they thought we were 'cute'.

"Okay boys, get back to patrolling," Sam ordered, turning to the group of teenagers. I heard Leah huff in the background. "Paul, Carlos and Jack, you guys are on patrol. Jared, Seth, Leah and Quil you guys can come with me, I'm going to visit Jacob. Brady, do you think he would mind if you stayed here for a couple of hours? I need someone to watch the pup." Everyone nodded at Sam's orders, heading for the door.

"Jake won't mind, I was heading home anyway." the boy, who I assumed was Brady, answered.

"Don't forget to tell the rest of the packs about the fire tomorrow. Our usual location," concluded Sam, and with that all the others except Emily, Brady, Brooke and I, left.

"Well," said Emily, looking slightly flustered at her new company, " I think I'll start supper."

"I'll go watch Tv. School's over, the others get here soon." said Brady, heading towards the living room. Emily watched him leave and turned to my sister and I.

"Why don't you go watch TV with Brady?" she said kindly, gesturing towards the living room. I set Brooke down on the floor, took her hand and followed Brady.

He was already splayed out on the couch, flipping through channels. I sat with Brooke on my lap. Brady had decided on a football channel, and after a few minutes I could tell Brooke was bored out of her mind. I was afraid to say something, not wanting to seem impolite.

Apparently Brooke wasn't concerned with this.

"Can we watch My little Pony?" she asked him, before I could stop her. Brady blinked incredulously, and then looked at me, asking if she was serious.

"W-what?" he stammered. Brooke rolled her eyes, knowing her she probably thought he was stupid. I knew, from my experience with teenage boys that the idea of watching her favourite show horrified him.

"Can we watch My little Pony?" repeated Brooke, saying it slowly so he was sure to understand. Brady looked conflicted, but then he conceded to my little sister.

"Sure," he told her, giving her a half grin. Brooke's face broke out into a huge smile as she snatched the remote from him and changed the channel. Personally, I didn't mind the show, but Brady was grimacing at the end of it.

Suddenly we had company. We heard the door of the little house open and a chorus of 'Hellos!' and 'How was your days?'. Brady jumped off the couch and went to join the others in the front room. I held Brooke's hand as we followed.

There were three new people along with Emily and Brady who were greeting them. The first, a teenage girl with the same native indian look as most people on the reservation. She was very pretty, with brown eyes and hair a few shades darker with a few loose curls. The second girl had very light blond hair that waved down to the middle of her back, cream coloured skin and beautiful green eyes. The rest of her was pretty average, and she was quite tall. The little boy was just as average looking as the other girl, but he had chubby cheeks that were a light pink colour, as if he was blushing all the time. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes so light they were almost gold. I estimated that their ages were 15, 13 and around 5 years old.

"Hello Kaylee, how was your day?" Emily asked the oldest girl, who smiled and gave her a hug.

"It wasn't so good. Jack was busy in detention at lunch for not having his homework done last night," Kaylee sighed. She and Emily shared a look, and then Emily turned away with a look of pity on her face, probably for this Jack. I wondered if maybe he was the same Jack that Sam had mentioned earlier?

"Hey Sammie," Brady greeted the other girl, also pulling her into a hug. Sammie's eyes sparkled with joy and she hugged him back.

"Emily! Emily!" the young boy exclaimed, tugging on Emily's pant leg. She leaned down and picked him up.

"What is it Ayden?" Emily asked, looking amused. I could tell by the way she acted that she cared deeply for this boy.

"I made you a picshuh'" he told with an adorable five year old lisp. The little boy raised a piece of paper for Emily to examine, and she smiled at him.

That was when the blond girl, Sammie noticed us.

"Who are they?" she asked, looking at us curiously with her sparkling eyes. Probably taking in mine and Brooke's similar features: dark brown straight hair that goes down to our chins, deep pools of black for eyes, dark permanently tanned skin, and skinny, short bodies.

Emily moved to stand beside us, and the child in her arms stared at us too. "These are the new members of the pack. Amy phased today," she explained, putting her hand on my shoulder. I was surprised that it seemed so cold.

"Hi!" said the girl named Kaylee, coming forward to shake our hands. I did so hesitantly ( I'd never been good with strangers, always too shy to be interesting) and so did Brooke, who was hiding behind me slightly ( she was shy, too).

We spent the next few minutes shaking everyone's hand, introducing Brooke too, and Emily added in our ages. For some reason I didn't know, the seemed upset by this information.

Everyone then split up to do different activities, and Brooke and I were left behind, standing awkwardly.

"Brooke, why don't you go play with Ayden?" Emily suggested while she simultaneously boiled vegetables and peeled potatoes. Brooke looked questioningly up at me, and I nodded, telling her it didn't bother me. She looked happy as she rushed out the room, but I felt alone.

Emily noticed this, so she asked if I wanted to help her make supper. I accepted, because aunt Tessie had always made me make her supper, so I knew how. However making supper with these girls was much more enjoyable, for they chattered happily while they worked. I was separating peas from their shells when Kaylee, who along with Sammie, was also helping Emily struck up a conversation.

"So Amy, what's your family like?" she asked me. I wondered why these people were so interested in my family, but I answered anyway.

"My parents died, and I used to live with my aunt and my sister near the edge of the rez," I told, trying to give her the information she wanted without disclosing too much. I realized my mistake when she cocked her head in confusion.

"You used to?" asked Sammie, jumping into the conversation. All three older girls turned to me, and I suddenly felt very small. Deciding it was probably best to tell the truth, I mumbled: "We ran away," then turned away from them and busied myself with the peas again.

Emily let out a gasp, "Your aunt must be so worried! We should probably call her." I turned around to look at her, horrified.

"No!" I nearly shouted, eyes wide with fear.

"What's wrong?" asked Brady as he entered the room, taking in the scene.

"Why not sweetheart?" Emily asked me in a soft voice, obviously trying to calm me down. It didn't work, and my fear turned into anger.

"Because she hates us!" I said, shouting now, "She always shouts at us, and treats us like dirt! She gets drunk, blames us for her miserable life and then she- she-" I couldn't even say it, but I think they understood. On those occasions where aunt Tessie had been really mad, she'd hit us, and it was something I wish I could block out of my memories.

Angry tears were streaming down my face and I was quivering with anger. I noticed that Brooke was now in the room, her eyes brimmed with tears after hearing my rant. I was now angry at myself for making her cry once again today, and I was now trembling from head to foot, the force of it shaking the floor.

"Amy, out now!" ordered Brady, pushing me towards the door. Under normal circumstances, I would have been afraid of this side of Brady. But I was so angry that I ran out the door, towards the forest. I could hear Brady trailing me, but I was beyond caring.

Half-way through a stride I combusted, pain searing through my every muscle. Howling in pain I slowed down, still panting from the torturous phasing process.

Brady, who was now also a wolf, came to stand beside me.

_I'm sorry that you're aunt did that to you, _Brady told me, _it's no wonder you were so furious. You'll have to learn how to deal with your anger, but it gets easier as you practice._

_I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose my temper. I felt like I couldn't control it, _I told him, feeling ashamed by action, and confused with this new me. There was so much I didn't know, and it scared me.

_I know how you feel, it was the same for me when I phased, and I was older than you. But the whole pack will help you, and you'll never be alone._

His words echoed in my head. 'You'll never be alone.' I couldn't comprehend it. For the last two months, I'd felt alone constantly. Even with Brooke, it was always me taking care of her, and no one was ever there to take care of me.

Brady, after hearing my internal monologue felt intense sadness and pity for me. He nuzzled my head under his, and for the first time in a long time I felt like I wasn't alone. Like someone cared for me, and my feelings and wellbeing.


End file.
